Mail delivering and receiving device for



w. cRlPPEN. MAIL DELIVERING AND RECEIVING DEVICE FOR-RAILWAIYS.

m Patented Aug. 22,1916.

l APPLICATION FILED NQV.22|

5 SHEETSw-SHEET l.

INVENTOR S LL S S E N H W ATTORNEYS m: 'mums Ferns nu.. .mom-umu. .wwmcmm n. c.

W. GRIPPEN. MAIL DELIVERING AND RECEIVING DEVICE FOR RAILwAYs.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22, 1913.

1,195,562. PaIenIedAug. 22,1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEYS ma Nawms Farms cu.. PNonrLIrNo wAsumc mN, n c

w. CRIPPEN.. A MAIL DELIVER'ING AND RECEIVING DEVICE FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLICATIONy FILED NOV. 22 I9I3.

Patented Aug. 22, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR 'WITNESSES ATTORNEYS W. CRIPPEN.

MAIL DELIVERING AND RECEIVING DEVICE FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-22. I9I3- WITNESSES t Patented Aug. 22, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

' 'lllb INVENTOR me wams persas co.. nuoro-uma.. yAsnmcrcN, n c,

ATTORNEYS w. cmPPEN. MAIL DELIVERING AND RECEIVING DEVICE FOR RAILWAYS.

I Patented Augzz, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

1w M A 2 V. o N D E L rl.. N 0 ..l. A C U P DI A Q 2 6 5 7 5 Ou 1 l 1l- INVENTOR ATTORNEYS WILLIAM CRIPPEN, 0F UTICA, NEW YORK.

MAIL DELIVERING AND RECEIVING DEVICE FOR RAILWAYS.

masses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug., 19.16.

Appucauon sied November 22, 1913. serial No. 802,404.

To all lw tem t may concern:

Be it known that I, IWILLIAM CRIPPEN, of Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail Delivering and Receiving Devices for Railways; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, ref-A erence being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon, which form part of this specication.

My present invention relates to mail delivering and receiving devices for railways.

'ihe purpose of my invention `is to provide an improved device of the character described which shall be simple in construction, eiiicient and reliable in operation and not liable to get out of working order.

One of the general objects of my invention is to provide improved automatically operating means for at the proper time carrying the mail bag from within the mail car to a point without the mail car where it will be delivered to the receiving hook suitably mounted at the mail exchanging station and for receiving from the mail exchange station the other mail bag and bringing it within the car.

A further object is to provide improved and novel means for delivering the mail` from the mail car and receiving mail into the mail car which means shall be normally entirely within the mail car but which shall be automatically projected out through the door of the mail car shortly before the mail exchange station is reached and which shall exchange mail bags at the exchange station and then return into the mail car carrying with it the received mail bag.

A still further object is to provide means for automatically opening the door of the mail car before the mail-carrying means are to he projected from thecar and for automatically closing the vsaid door after said mail-carrying means have returned into the car. l

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the mail car parts of a mail delivering and receiving device embodying my invention, the parts being in the position they assume after the device has'been set to become operative and with the mail-carrying carriage ready to be moved to a ,position partly outside the car. Fig. f2 is a perspective view of the same device after the carriage has been projected outwardly and is carrying the outgoing mail bag outside the car. Fig. 8 is a perspective view ofthe same'device after the mail bags have been exchanged and the carriage has returned to a point entirely within the car carrying with it the incoming mail bag and also after the door has been closed. Fig. l is a perspective view from the rear of the train showing the station or fixed parts of the device and the parts of that portion of the carriage that is projected outside the' car, the parts being in the position they assume immediately prior to the mail bags being exchanged. Fig. 5 is a'perspective view of the upper and vlower slideways and the standard upon which they are mounted within the car.4 Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the sliding frame. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the mail-carrying carriage. Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view of such of the parts shown in Fig. 4 as would be seen from a plane below the level of the upper arm of the station crane. Fig. 9 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of the door releasing device and adjacent parts. Fig. 10 is a side view of the mail bag holding clip upon the upper arm 4l of carriage as seen when looking from the car outwardly. Fig. 11is a similar view of the clip upon the lower arm 43 of the carriage 52. Fig. 12 is a side view on an enlarged scale of the mail bag holding clipupon the upper arm ol the station crane as seen when looking from the car. toward the crane. Fig. 13 is a similar view of the clip upon the lower arm and adjacent parts of the station crane. Fig. 14 is a horizontal sectional view on line 14-14 of Fig. 1 showing part of the holding device connecting the carriage and the sliding frame. Fig. 15 is a horizontal sectional view through traveler 101 and adjacent parts.

In the usual mail car having floor 21, sidewall 22, and end wall 23 there is placed an upright standard 24 extending crosswise of the car from a point slightly to the rear of the rear side of the car doorway 25. A door 26 is slidingly suspended from a door track 27 as by eyes 28 upon the door engaging said door track so that the door may be easily opened or closed. Immediately in front of the .Standard 24 are located upper and lower horizontal slideways 29 and 30 respectively as by having their inner ends secured to the standard 24 and their outer ends secured to the sidewall 22 adjacent to the doorway 25. Upon these slideways there is slidingly mounted a sliding frame 31 composed of upper and lower rails 32 and 33 respectively rigidly connected by inner and outer upright ends 34 and 35. This frame 31 is slidingly mounted upon the upper and lower slideways 29 and 30 as by eyes 36 upon the sliding frame having sliding enga-gement with said slideways.

Slidingly mounted upon the upper and lower slideways 29 and 30 and the upper and lower rails 32 and 33 of the sliding frame 31 there is provided the mail-carrying carriage 52. This carriage has a rectangular frame work composed of upper and lower hori- Zontal bars 37 and 38 and an inner end 39 and upright cross piece 40. From the outer upper end of this carriage frame work extends an upper arm 41. From the lower outer end of the frame work extends a bar 42 upon which is pivotally mounted a lower arm 43 so as to be substantially parallel with the upper arm 41 and so as to have its outer end raised or lowered a short distance, the extent of such motion being limited by upper and lower fingers 44 and 45 upon the bar 42 and bent into the path of said pivotally mounted arm 43. This arm 43 is of such length as to bring its end below the end of the upper arm 41.

Upon the outer ends of the upper arm 41 and lower arm 43 is detachably secured the outgoing mail bag. As improved means for a holder for this purpose I provide clips formed as follows: The ends of the arms 41 and 43 are bent forwardly to form short upper and lower blocks 46 and 47 respectively parallel with the railway tracks upon which the mail car is running. To the upper side of the upper block 4G there is secured one side of a U-shaped spring 48 the loop of which extends forwardly of the` forward end of said block a sui'licient distance to provide a pocket 49 for one of the rings 50 of a mail bag while the other arm of the U-shaped spring extends rearwardlyv to snugly engage the lower side of the said block and then has its extreme end slant downwardly for the purpose hereinafter mentioned. A similar U-shaped saring 48 is mounted upon the lower block 4 in similar fashion except that the lower end of the spring is secured to the lower side of the block and its upper end is in spring tensioned engagement with the upper side of the block. rllhe extreme end of the free portion of this U-shaped spring is bent upwardly from the block.

Upon the upper arm 41 of the carriage 52 and about midway of the length of said arm is rigidly secured the mail bag catching hook 51 having its opening toward the front in the usual way and having its long outer arm bent outwardly as it extends forward so as to more surely engage the incoming mail bag and guide it to the rear part of the hook. Y

The mail carrying carriage 52 has its inner end slidingly mounted upon the upper and lower slideways 29 and 30 as by means of eyes 53 and 54 projecting rearwardly from the said inner end of the carriage into sliding engagement with said upper and lower slideways respectively at points farther from the door than where the inner eyes 36 ofthe sliding frame 31 engage said slideways. Eyes 55 and 5G upon the upper and lower outer corners of the frame work of the carriage 52 project rearwardly into sliding engagement with the upper and lower rails 32 and 33 respectively of the sliding frame 31.

Pivotally mounted upon the carriage is a lever 57 the upper end 58 of which extends outwardly-across the rearward portion of the loop in hook 51 so that the catching of the mail bag in hook 51 moves said arm 58 to the rear thereby carrying the lower rearwardly turned end 59 of the sait lever forward from its normal position of engagement with the outer side of the outer end 35 of the sliding frame 31. A spring 60 suitably mounted upon the carriage 52 so yieldingly engages lever 5T as to normally hold the rearwardly turned end 59 of said lever across the path of movement of the outer end 35 of the sliding frame 31 but allows said lower end to be carried forward out of said path when the mail bag is caught upon the hook 51 as heretofore described. When this rearwardly turned end 59 is engaged with the outer side of the outer end 35 of sliding frame 31 it will be obvious from the manner in which said sliding frame 31 and carriage 52 are assembled upon the upper and lower slideways 29 and 30 that said mail-carrying carriage 52 will be carried outwardly when said sliding frame moves outwardly and that said carriage 52 will be free to move inwardly upon said rearwardly turned end 59 being disengaged from the sliding frame by suitable movement of level' 57 which movement will normally be made by contact of the mail bag with the upper arm 58 of said lever 57. The rear extremity G1 of said rearwardly turned end 59 is a cam face slanting inwardly as it extends rearwardly as plainly indicated in Fig. 14. After the rearwardly turned end 59 has been released from engagement with the outer end 35 of sliding frame 31 and has allowed the carriage to move inward relative to said sliding fra-me and said lever' 59 has returned to normal position, the parts are returned to their normal holding position by the sliding frame being moved inwardly so that the in ner side of the outer end 35 comes into camming engagement with said cam face 61 thereby in an obvious manner forcing the lower end of lever 57 forward until said frame end 35 passes the rearwardly turned end 59 which then springs back and assumes its normal holding engagement with said sliding frame outer end Opposite the doorway 25 and adjacent to the standard 24 in bearings 62 is journaled a rock shaft 63 depending from which is an arm 61 extending through an aperture 65 in the floor 21 of the car far enough to be engaged and moved backward by a trip suitably located upon the railroad track. Extend ing rearwardly from the outer end of the rock shaft 63 is an arm 66 from the upper end of which extends a finger 67 having its lower face 68 a cam engaging face and its rearward face 69 adapted to engage and hold the forward or holding face 70 of a block 71 provided upon the inner side of door 26 near its rear lower corner. The upper side 72 of this block 71 slants downwardly toward the rear to form a cam surface cooperating with the cam face 68 of the finger 67 so that as the door is closed the cam surface 72 will force the i'inger 67 up until the cooperating faces pass each other whereupon the linger 67 will fall under the weight of arm 64; whereupon the holding face 69 of finger 67 will engage the forward face 70 of block 71 and hold the door closed. 1t will be obvious that these parts will be disengaged and the door allowed to open when the arm 64 comes in contact with the strike upon the track as this will move the holding face 69 upwardly out of engagement with the forward face 70 of the door block.

The inner end of rock shaft G3 extends upwardly and its extreme end is bent rearwardly to form a dog 73 normally holding carriage 52 at its inner position by engaging the outer side of the upright cross piece 40. When the arm 64 is carried rearwardly by the strike upon the railroad track, the dog 73 is moved forwardly out of engagement with the carriage 52 and as far as this holding means is concerned the carriage and sliding frame are free to move together in an outward direction. The rearward end of dog 73 is beveled in the same way as dog 59 already described and in the same way the carriage on its inward movement comes into camming engagement with said dog and passes thereby.

Secured to the upright cross piece 40 of the mail carriage 52, as by means of an eye 75, is a cord or cable 76 which extends inwardly about a pulley 77 mounted upon the inner end 34 of the sliding frame 31, and thence carried outwardly in a substantially horizontal direction to and about pulley 78 fixed upon standard 24. From here the cord extends upward in any convenient manner to avoid the other mechanism as through pulley 79 near the upper part of the standard to and around a pulley 80 mounted upon the side wall 22 of the car in an elevated position, so that the weight 81 attached to this end of the cord 76 may have ample distance to descend. Conveniently secured to the sliding frame, as by means of upon the inner upright end 34e, is a cord or strap 83 extending inwardly through a loop 84 upon the standard 2li and provided at its inner end with al hand hold 85. it will now be seen that the weight 81 operating through cord 76 tends to pull the sliding frame 31 outwardly upon the upper and lower slideways 29 and 30 and tends to pull the carriage 52 inwardly upon said slideways and sliding frame. l/Vhen the weight 81 has so moved the carriage 52 and the sliding frame 31, this part of the device is again set for operation by the operator pulling strap 83, which draws the sliding frame 31 inwardly against the tension of weight 81 which is raised by such inward movement of the sliding frame, because the sliding frame carries with it upright 77 away from fixed pulley 78 and away from the eye 75 upon the upright cross piece L0 as the mail carriage is already at its inner limit of motion.

Suitably placed beside the track at each mail exchange station is a station mail crane consisting of uprights 86 and 87 and cross piece 88 forming a frame work upon which is horizontally mounted the station mail catching hook 89, having its outer arm 90 prolonged and extended outwardly to more surely catch the mail bag and guide it into the loop of the hook S9. From the framework there also extends toward the track upper and lower arms 91 and 92 respectively, spaced apart a distance equal to the length of an ordinary mail bag. Preferably the lower arm 92 will be pivotally mounted at 93 to a stub arm 94 near the framework so as to allow the lower arm to be raised or lowered according to the varying lengths of mail bags. The stub arm 94 is continued outwardly beyond the pivoting point 92 and then turned downwardly and then rearwardly to form a bracket or stop 95 to limit the downward movement of the arm 92. Upward movement of arm 92 beyond a desired point is prevented by the rod which forms the hook 89 being extended forwardly as the brace 96 over arm 92 and secured to stub arm 94, as by having its end downturned through an eye 97 upon the forward side of stub arm 94, and there held by key 144.

Upon the outer ends of arms 91 and 92 are clips adapted to detachably support a mail bag. These clips are formed by exan eye 82 tending the end of the arms forwardly as the block 98, whose forward end is turned down upon the upper clip and turned upwardl y upon the lower clip. T o these blocks are secured U-shaped springs 99 by having the upper end of the upper spring secured to the upper side of the upper block and by having the lower arm of the lower spring secured to the lower side of the lower block. This arrangement allows the freevend of the springs to be toward each other and in engagement with the offset ends of the blocks 98, so that a bag pocket 100 is provided between each spring and its block, as plainly appears from Figs. 12 and 13. The free ends of the springs preferably extend slightly beyond the offset ends of the blocks 98, so as to more readily allow the operator to extend the springs when he hangs the mail bag upon the station crane.

lf it be desired to have the device so arranged that the door 26 will not be operated automatically in conjunction with the movement of the mail-carrying carriage, as for instance where no door is used, or where the door is locked open or opened and closed by other means, the part of the device so far described will form a complete mail delivering and receiving device. |The operation of the device so far described will then be as follows: The outgoing mail bag will be hung upon the bag' holding clips of the mail-carrying carriage 52 by passing upper and lower rings 50 of the mail bag into the upper and lower pockets 49 respectively, which is easily done by the rings expanding the Ushaped springs 48 in an obvious manner by forward pressure against the downturned free end of the upper spring and the upwardly turned free end of the lower spring. Each of these U-shaped springs are strong enough to hold the mail bag ring in the pocket against the power of the wind and the speed of the train. In addition, the upper spring carries the weight of the mail bag and its contents. The device having been set for operation, the parts will be in the position indicated in Fig. 1 with the weight 8l in raised position and the carriage 52 and sliding frame 31 at their inner positions and the outgoing'- mail bag just within the car. rlhe parts are held in this position by the dog 86 engaging the carriage as heretofore described and the dog 59 upon the carriage engaging the sliding frame as heretofore described. As the mail car approaches the station crane but at some little distance therefrom, the depending arm 64 engages the strike suitably placed beside the railroad track and is thereby swung rearwardly causing dog 8G to move forwardly out of holding ,engagement with the carriage V52.

Upon being so released the carriage 52 and the sliding frame 31 move together outwardly through the weight 8l operating through cord 76 causing pulley 77 upon the sliding fra-me to approach the fixed pulley 7 8 upon the standard 24. This brings the parts to the position shown in Fig. 2 with the sliding frame 31 at its outer position adjacent to the doorway and the carriage 52 at its outer position with its framework adjacent to the doorway and the upper and lower arms 41 and 43 respectively projecting voutwardly from the car and carrying at their ends the outgoing mail bag. Upon the upper arm 41 without the car is also carried the mail-catching hook 51. As the mail car with its outwardly projecting parts approaches the station crane, the parts come to the relative position shown lin Fig. 4, which is a. perspective view of said parts from the rear and thereabove just before the mail bags are exchanged. lt will be noticed that the parts are so arranged that the exchange is made without the outgoing or incoming mail bags interfering with each other, and without the receiving and delivering mechanism interfering or engaging one another. This is accomplished by the station bag being supported about half its length above the mail car bag and nearer the mail car than is the mail car bag. The upper arm 41 on the mail car and the mailcatching hook 51 pass about midway between the upper and lower arms 91 and 92 respectively upon the station crane and the lower arm 43 upon the mail car passes below the lower arm 92 and the mail-catching hook 89 upon the station crane. As the mail car passes the station crane the mailcatching hook 89 upon the station crane engages the outgoing mail bag about midway of its length as carried by the mail car and upon this mail bag being so held in this fixed hook, the bag folds together enough to cause the upper ring of the mail bag to eX- ert a downward tension upon the free end of U-shaped spring 99 of the upper clip and to cause the lower ring of the mail bag to exert an upward tension upon the free end of the spring 99 of the lower clip. The tension placed upon these springs causes them to leave their normal contact with the offset ends of blocks 98 and allows the rings to slide off the free ends of said springs. The mail bag is thus detached from the mail car supports and securely held in the hook of the station Crane. Meanwhile the mail bag-catching hook 51 carried by the mail car has engaged about midway of its length the incoming mail bag supported upon the upper and lower arms of the station crane and such engagement in a substantially similar manner temporarily expands the springs 48 of the holding clips upon these arms and causes the mail bag rings 50 to slide off of the free ends of said springs, whereupon the said incoming mail bag is entirely deta hed from the station crane and cri is cariied in the loop of the mail car hook 51. The pressure with which this mail bag has been drawn to the rear of the loop of this hoch 51 causes arm 58 to be moved rearwardly, which through lever 57 causes dog to be moved forwardly out of engagement with sliding frame 31, whereupon the carriage 52 is free to move inwardly relative to sliding frame 31 and relative also to the upper and lower slideways 29 and 30 and does so nieve inwardly under the tension imparted to the carriage through the cord 7 by weight S1. ri'dhis brings the parts to the position shown in F ig. 3 with the incoming inail bag entirely within the mail car and also with the inail-carrying arms 41 and 13 and the mail-catching hook 51 entirely within the mail car. The incoming inail bag lis removed from the hook 51 by drawing' the mail bag forwardly. If the door is being used upon the mail car, it may new be closed without interfering with any part of the device so far described.

Ordinarily the door is used upon the mail car and opened before each exchange operation and closed thereafter, in order to prevent teo much draft thi1 ugh the car for working with the mail and in winter to prevent the entrance of too much cold air. llurthermore, to prevent waste f the operators time in watching to see when a staticn is approached and in order to have the door opened with certainty and in sufficient time, it is very desirable that the door be opened automatically. I prefer, moreover, to have this automatic operation of the door se connected and cooperating with the mechanism already described, that the door will be fully opened before the mail carriage starts cutwardly and so that the door will be held open until the mail carriage and its connected parts have been entirely withdrawn into thc car. For cooperation in this order and for simplicity of construction, 1 also prefer te have the door-opening mechanism become operative through the incveiiient of the arm G-l when it engages the strike near the railroad track.

1in "lately above the door 2G and its there is located upon the side wall a traieier 101 slidingly supported upon a rod 102 as by loops 103 upon said traveler encircling said rod. Depending from this 'traveler is a finger 10d adapted to engage the f;;rward eye 28 upon the door and shove the door closed as the tra-veler moves in a rearward direction. Secured to eye 105 upon the upper part of door 20 is one end of a cord or cable 100, which passes forwardly or te the left, as viewed in Figs. 1 te 3, about a pulley T located upon the traveler 101; thence rearwardly about pulley 108 fixed upon the side wall of the car above the rear of the doorway; thence forwardly over pulley 109 fixed upon the side wall of the car back of the opened position of the door; thence downwardly to a pulley 110 in weight 111, and thence upwardly to a bracket 112 secured to the side wall of the car. 1t will new be seen that with the door in the closed position and the traveler 101 held in forward position, the weight 111 tends to descend and open the door also it will be seen that when the door has been opened and the finger 101- eiigages forward eye 28 upon the door, upon' the traveler being released the weight 111 tends to move the traveler 101 rearwardly carrying with it the door 20 as will be clearly seen by reference to Fig. 2. Secured to the traveler 101 is a cord 113 which passes forward past the loo-p in cord 10G and over a pulley 111 suitably mounted upon the side wall 22. This cord enables the operator to set the door mechanism ready for operation since by pulling said cord 113 the traveler is moved forward. This forward movement of the traveler carries with it the pulley 10'? and in an obvio-us way raises the weight 111 which then exerts a tendency to open the closed door while the traveler 101 is loclred at its forward position and exerts a tendency to move the traveler rearwardly as soon as the traveler is released, as already described.

Upon the traveler 101 is an inwardly prejecting tooth 115 having its rear face substantially at right angles to the side of the car and its forward face slanting back to said rear face so that said tooth ward movement of the traveler 101 comes into camming engagement with fro-nt and rear dogs 116 and 117 and through said dogs being` inovably mounted forces said dogs inwardly far enough to allow the tooth to pass thereby but rearward movement of the trai"- eler is prevented by the rear face of said tooth engaging first the forward face of the front dog 116 and after that is removed then the forward face of the rear dog 117. The forward dog 11G is so placed as to hold the traveler 101 by engagement with said tooth 115 at the extreme forward position of said traveler 101. The dog 11G projects transversely of the car into engagement with said tooth 115 by being mounted at the reai end of an arm 11S projecting from the upper end of a rock shaft 110 pivotally mounted upon the side wall 22 and having at its lower end a short transversely extending l' arm 120 in the end of which is pivotally mounted the downturned end 121 of a rod 122 which extends rearwardly of the car nearly to the standard 21 where it is connected to the end of a downturned arm projecting from a rock shaft 121 suitably joiirnaled upon standard 21 from which rock shaft downwardly projects an arm 125 upon the end of which there is an inwardly projecting dog 120. rEhe arm 125 on the for- Stil is se located as to overhang the inner end of the carriage 52 when it is at its inner position and so that the dog 126 will project rearwardly into the frame work of said carriage and engage the doorward side of the inner end 29 of said carriage and hold it from outward movement until said dog is withdrawn from such engagement. The rear end of thedog is 'formed with a bevcled surface slanting inwardly as it extends rearwardly so that as the carriage is moved inwardly from the doorway the inner upright or end 39 of said carriage comes into camming engagement with the beveled surface and moves the dog forward enough for the said end o-f the carriage to pass thereby when the dog drops rearwardly through the weight of the arm 125 into normal holdingposition.

ln line with the tooth 115 upon traveler 101 and closely to the rear of dog 116 is located rear dog 117 projecting against the traveler 101 from the lower end of an arm 127 downwardly projecting from a rock shaft 12S suitably journaled upon the side wall 22 over the doorway 25 and extending to the rear far enough so that .from its rear end a downwardly projecting arm 129 may have its lower end operatively connected to a rod 130 projecting transversely of the car with its inner end connected to the end of a forwardly projecting arm 131 provided at the top of a perpendicular roch shaft 132 suitably mounted upon the standard 2l. This roch shaft is located upon the inner portion of the standard 2l and projects downwardly thereon far enough so that an arm 133 projecting from the lower end of said roel; shaft may bear against the inner end 39 of the carriage 53.

The operation of the whole device and the coperation between the strictly inail-carrying parts and the door operating mechanism will be as follows: Assuming the parts to have been set ready for operation and the mail bags in place both within the car and upon the station crane, the engagement of the strike situated near the railroad track with the downwardly projecting arm Gel so rotates rock shaft G3 that the finger upon the arm G6 is released from holding engagement with the door block 71 whereupon the door moves toward open position from the power of weight 111 as already described and the dog 86 is withdrawn from holding engagement with mail-carrying carriage 52 which allows said carriageto move outwardly under the tension of weight 81 a very short distance when its movement is arrested by dog 126. This slight outward movement of the carriage 52 has moved it suliciently so that as the rock shaft G3 comes again to normal position the dog 8G cannot engage the deorward side of the outward side of the cross piece e0 of the carriage 52.

Meanwhile as the door 26 has moved toV carries the outgoing mail bag and the mailcatching hook 51 outside the car. Mean while the forward motion imparted to the downturned end 121 has imparted a forward motion to arm 120 which through rock shaft 119 and arm 115 has caused the forward dog 11G to be moved awa-y from traveler 101 and out of engagement with tooth 115 thereon. This disengagement allows traveler 101 to move a very short distance to the rear under the influence of weight 111 until the movement of the traveler is arrested by dog 117 engaging tooth 115. This movement of traveler 101 has no effect upon door 26 but has resulted in the further movement of the door being controlled through dog 117 as finger 10-l upon said traveler has new come into engagement with the forward eye 28 upon the door.

Upon the mail car passing the station crane the mail bags will be exchanged as already described in detail and through the incoming mail bag releasing dog 59 the earriage 52 will move to its inward position. During the outward movement of the mail carriage and the exchanging of mail bags and the inward movement of the mail car riage 52 the door 2G has been held from closing through the traveler 101 being heldV by rear dog 117. Upon the mail carriage 52 coming toits inward position it imparts an inward movement to arm 133 which movement through rock shaft 132 is imparted to arm 131 and thence through rod 130 to arm 129 and thence through rock shaft 128 te arm 127 and dog 117. This inward movement given rear dog 117 moves it out of engagement with tooth 115 upon the traveler 101 whereupon the traveler under the impulse of weight 111 moves rearwardly carrying with it door 2G through the engagement of finger 10e with forward eye 28 upon said door.

Upon the door coming to closed position the upwardly slanting rearward face of the door block 71 comes intocamming engagement with the lower side of finger upon arm 6G and raises said arm temporarily allowing the door block to pass therebeyond whereupon forward movement of -said door is prevented until the arm is again raised as already described for therelease of the door.

llpon the ian-ard movement of carriage 52 it has come into camming engagement with the dogs 86 and 126 and moved them forwardly until the carriage has passed therebeyond whereupon said dogs through the weight of their attached parts again move rearwardly into normal holding position. By the operators manipulation of cord 83 the sliding frame 31 is moved to inward position and the weight 31 is moved to raised position so that the mail-carrying parts are ready for the next operation. Upon such inward inorement of the sliding frame 31 the dog 59 has been temporarily forced forward by the sliding frame and then under the impulse of the spring 60 has been moved to normal holding position as already hereinbefore described. By the operator pulling cord 113 the traveler 101 is moved to no1'- mal position and weight 111' moved to upward position so that the door operating mechanism is ready for the neXt operation.

Even though the mail car be equipped with my complete device consisting of strictly mail-handling members cooperating with door-opening mechanism, yet when so desired the dooioperating mechanism may be temporarily eliminated by locking the door open. For this purpose there is preferably provided a gravity catch 135 pivotally mounted upon a pin 13G projecting from the side wall 22 and normally hanging' downward as shown in full lines in llig. 1 when the door is to be operated during each mail exchange operation. When it is desired to lock the door the catch is swung around in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 to the position shown therein in dotted lines where it is supported in a substantially horizontal position by pin 137. The gravity catch is provided with a rearward slanting surface 138 and a forwardly facing projection or hook 139. Oppositely located near the forward edge of the door is a block 1110 the forward face 14.2 of which is preferably slanted downwardly as it eX- tends forwardly as indicated so as to come into camming engagement with the slanting face 138 upon the gravity catch as the door is opened. When the door is fully opened the catch drops so that the hook 139 thereon engages the rear face 141 of the door block and thus holds the door open even when dog 117 is released through the return of the carriage and the tension of weight 111 tends to close the door. lThe door may then be left open as long as desired and brought into operation at any time by moving the gravity catch to its downward pointing position.

It will be understood that the weight of dog 125 tends to move said dog downwardly into engaging position and such weight also in an obvious manner as hereinbefore described tends to keep dog 116 in position to engage the tooth 11G upon the traveler 101. Likewise the weight of downwardlj,7 extending dog, 127 and downv-.iardly extending arm 129 tend to keep said dog 127 in a downward and engaging position relative to tooth 115 and likewise tend to swing arm 133 toward the door so that it will be in position to be engaged by the carriage 52 coming to its inner position.

Preferably the l ag-holding members and the bag-catching hook upon the station' crane'will be so constructed as to be readily moved to a non-projecting position. l accomplish this result by mounting thc upper arm 91 and the lower or stub arm 91 upon a rock shaft 145 journaled in bearings 146 so that said arms may be swung horizontally to a non-projecting position bv withdrawing key 14d from the down-turned forward end of brace 96 and lifting said down-turned end from the eye 97 in stub arm 94. The brace 96 being swingingl-,rv mounted upon cross piece 38 of the crane, the brace 93 and mail-catching hook 89 are raised upward far enough to dis-engage the end of said brace from the eye in the stub arm then the arms 91 and 91T? are swung forwardly allowing brace 93 and hook S9 to hang straight down. The arms 91 and 91 may then be moved to a forward or rearward position as desired and in either case will be sufficiently withdrawn from the railway track to prevent their being damaged and also to prevent their injuring anything upon other trains.

What l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a railway mail-handling device, the. combination of a mail car having an opening in its side, a frame movable transversely of the car toward and from said opening, a carriage movable upon said frame transversely of the car, a mail-baghandling arm projecting from said carriage and through said opening when the carriage is moved theretoward and within the car when the carriage is moved away from the opening, yielding means tensioned to move the frame toward the opening, a catch adapted to hold the frame back from the opening, a trip adapted to release said catch, yielding means tensioned to retract the carriage from the opening, a catch adapted to hold the carriage in extended position relative to said frame, and a trip for releasing said carriage catch.

2. ln a railway mail-handling device, the combination of a mail car having an opening in its side, a frame movable transversely of the car toward and from said opening, a. carriage movable upon said frame transversely of the car, a niail-bag-handling arm projecting from said carriage, and through said opening when the carriage is moved theretoward and within the car when the Cri carriage is moved away vfrom the opening, yielding means tensioned to move the frame toward the opening, a catch adapted to hold the frame back from the opening, a trip operable from without the car and adapted to release said catch, yielding means tensioned to retract the carriage from the opening, a catch adapted to hold the carriage in extended position relative to said frame, and a trip for releasing said carriage catch.

3. In a railway mail-handling device, the combination of a mail car having an opening in its side, a frame movable transversely of the car 'toward and :from said opening, a carriage movable upon said frame transversely ot the car, a mail-bag-handling arm projecting from said carriage, and through said opening when the carriage is moved theretoward and within the car when the carriage is moved away rom the opening, yielding means tensioned to move the frame toward the opening, a catch adapted to hold the frame back from the opening, a trip adapted to release said catch, yielding means tensioned to retract the carriage from the opening, riage in extended position relative to said iframe, and a trip adapted to be operated by the received mail-bag for releasing said carriage catch.

4. In a railway mail-handling device, the combination of a mail car having an opening in its side, a frame movable transversely of the car toward and from said opening, a carriage movable upon said iframe transversely of the car, a mailbag-handling arm projecting from said carriage and through the said opening when the carriage is moved theretoward and Within the car when the carriage is moved away from the opening, a yielding means tensioned to move the frame toward the opening and to move the carriage from the opening, a catch adapted to hold the frame back from the opening, a trip adapted to release said catch, a catch adapted to hold the carriage in extended position relative to said traine and a trip for releasing said carriage catch.

5. In a railway mail-handling device, the combination of a mail car having an opening in its side, a frame movable transversely of the car toward and from said opening, a carriage carried by said frame and movable relatively to said frame transversely of the car, a mail-bag-handling arm projecting from said carriage and through the said opening when the carriage is moved theretoward and within the car when the carriage is moved away from the opening, a yielding means tensioned to move the frame toward the opening and to move the carriage from thc opening and adapted to be placed under tension by moving said frame inwardly from the opening, a catch adapted to hold the frame back from the opening,

a catch adapted to hold the cara trip adapted to release said catch, a catch adapted to hold the carriage in extended position relative to said 'frame and a trip Y 'for releasing said carriage catch.

6. In a railway mail-handling device, the combination of a mail car having an opening in its side, a frame movable transversely of the car toward and from said opening, a carriage carried by said frame and movable relatively to said frame transversely of the car, a mail-bag-handling arm projecting from said carriage and through the said opening when the carriage is moved theretoward and within the car when the carriage is moved away from the opening, a yielding means tensioned to move the frame toward the opening and to move the carriage from the opening, a catch adapted to hold the frame back from the opening, a trip oper- .able from without the car and adapted to release said catch, a catch adapted to hold the carriage in extended position relative to said frame and a trip for releasing said carriage catch.

7 In a railway mail-handling device, the

combination of a mail car having an opening in its side, a frame movable transversely of the car toward and from said opening, a carriage carried by said frame and movable relatively to said frame transversely of the car, a mail-bag-handling arm projecting from said carriage and through the saidV opening when the carriage is moved theretoward andwithin the car when the carriage 1s moved .away from the opening, a

yielding means tensioned to move the framev toward the opening and to move the carriage from the opening, a catch adapted to hold the frame back from the opening, a trip adapted to release said catch, a catch adapted to hold the carriage in extended position relative to said frame and a trip adapted to be operated by the received mailbag ior releasing said carriage catch.

8. The combination in a mail handling device of a railway mail car having an opening therein, a mailbag carrier moving out .and back through said opening, a door adapted to close said opening, yielding means operable to close said door, a catch adapted to hold said door open, a trip adapted to disengage said door-'restraining catch and operated by the carrier returning to position within the car, whereby the door is closed after the carrier returns to retracted position.

9. The combination in a mail handling device of a railway mail car having an opening therein, a mailbag carrier moving out and back through said opening, a door slidingly closing said opening, a traveler movable toward and from said'opening and adapted on moving toward the opening to push said door shut, a yielding meanstensioned to move said traveler toward the lit opening, means for projecting said mail carrier without the car and for withdrawing it into the car, a catch holding said traveler baclr from the door, and a trip operated by he carrier returning to retracted position and adapted to release said traveler catch, whereby the traveler is released and closes the door.

l0. In a railway mail handling device, the combination of a mail car having an opening in its side, a door adapted to close said opening, yielding means tensioned to close said door, a catch adapted to hold said door open, a frame movable transversely7 of the car toward and from said' opening, a carriage movable upon said frame transversely of the car, a mailbag handling arm projecting from said carriage and through the said opening when the carriage is moved theretoward and within the car when the carriage is moved away from the opening, a yielding means tensio-ned to move the frame and therewith the carriage toward the opening and to move the carriage from the opening, a catch adapted to hold the frame back from the opening, a trip adapted to release said catch, a catch adapted to hold the carriage in extended position relative to said frame, a trip for releasing said carriage catch and a trip operated by the carriage returning' to retracted position and adapted to disengage the catch holding the door open, whereby the door is allowed to close after the carriage has come to retracted position.

l1. The combination in a mail handling device of a railway mail car having an opening therein, a door adapted to close said opening, means to open said door, a mailbag carrier adapted to move out and back through said car opening, yielding means tensioned to move said carrier outward, a catch holding said carrier back and means operatively connected to said carrier-holding catch and operated by the door' coming to opened position, for disengaging said carrier-holding catch, whereupon the carrier moves outwardly.

l2. In a railway mail handling device, the combination of a mail car having an opening in its side, a door adapted to close said opening and to be withdrawn therefrom, a frame movable transversely of the car to` ward and from said opening, a carriage movable upon said frame transversely of the car, a mailbag-handling arm projecting from said carriage and through the said opening when the carriage is moved theretoward and within the car when the carriage is moved away from the opening, a yielding means tensioned to move the frame toward the opening and to move the carriage from the opening, a catch adapted to hold the frame back from the opening, a trip adapted to release said catch and operated by said door being moved to retracted position, a catch adapted to hold the carriage in extended position relative to said frame and a trip for releasing said carriage catch.

13. The combination in a mail handling device ot' a railway mail car having an opening therein, a mailbag carrier moving out and back through said opening, a door slidingly closing said opening, a traveler movable toward and from said opening and adapted on moving to-ward the opening to push said door shut, a. yielding means tensioned to open said door and to move said traveler toward the opening, a catch to hold said door shut, a trip adapted to release said catch and allow the door operation by the opening of said door for projecting said mail carrier without the car and means for withdrawing said carrier thereinto, a catch holding said traveler back from the door and a trip to release said traveler catch and operated by the mail carrier returning to retracted position within the car, whereby the traveler is released and closes the door.

14. In a railway mail handling device, the combination of a mail car having an opening in its side, a door adapted to close said `opening, yielding means. tensioned to close said door, a catch adapted to hold said door open, a frame movable transversely of the car toward and from said opening, a carriage movable upon said frame transversely of the car, a mailbag handling arm projecting from said carriage and through the said opening when the carriage is moved theretoward and within the car when the carriage is moved away from the opening, a yielding means tensioned to move the frame and therewith the carriage toward the opening and to move the carriage from the opening, a catch adapted to hold the frame back from the opening, a trip adapted to release said catch and operated by said door being moved to retracted position, a catch adapted to hold the carriage in extended position relative to said frame, a trip for releasing said carriage catch and a trip operated by the carriage returning to retracted position and adapted to disengage the catch holding the door open, whereby the door is allowed to close after the carriage has come to retracted position.

l5. The combination in a mail handlingl device of a railway mail -car having an opening therein, a mail bag carrier moving out and back through said opening, a door slidingly closing said opening, a traveler movable toward and from said opening and adapted on moving toward the opening to push said door shut, a yielding means tensioned to open said door and to move said traveler toward the opening, a catch to hold said door shut, a trip adapted to release said catch and allow the door to open, means for projecting said mail carrier without the car to open, means set into and for withdrawing it thereinvto, a .catch nature, inthe presence of two Witnesses, this holding said traveler' hack from the door and 30th day of Oct. 1913. Y a trio to release said traveler catch and operateld by the mail carrier returning to re- WILLIAM CRPPEN' tracted position Within the oar whereby the Witnesses: traveler is released and closes the door. HARRIET WILLIAMS,

In witness whereof I have aiixed my sig- W. Gr. STONE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents cach, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

